THE VITAL BODY 47child’s vital body, or rather the material from which
that vehicle will eventually be made, is thus outside
the dense body. For that reason the vital body of a
child protrudes much farther beyond the periphery of
the dense body than does that of an adult. During the
period of growth this store of ether atoms is drawn
upon to vitalize the accretions within the body until, at
the time when the adult age is reached, the vital body
protrudes only from one to one and a half inches
beyond the periphery of the dense body.
The Western Wisdom School teaches as its
fundamental maxim that “all occult development
begins with the vital body.” The part of the vital body
formed of the two higher ethers, the light ether and the
reflecting ether, is what we may term thesoul body;
that is to say, it is more closely linked with the desire
body and the mind and also more amenable to the
Spirit’s touch than are the two lower ethers. It is the
vehicle of intellect, and is responsible for all that
makes man, man. Our observations, our aspirations,
our character, etc., are due to the work of the Spirit in
these two higher ethers, which become more or less
luminous according to the nature of our character and
habits. Also, as the dense body assimilates particles of
food and thus gains in flesh, so the two higher ethers
assimilate our good deeds during life and thus grow in
volume as well. According to our doings in this
present life we thus increase or decrease that which we
brought with us at birth. This is the reason the Western
Wisdom Teaching says that all mystic development
begins with the vital body.